A basic cancer registration and CanReg5 course was held from 31 August to 4 September 2014 in Cairo, Egypt with an international faculty from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the IARC Regional Hub in Izmir, Turkey. The course was hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO). The programme included basic cancer registration principles and methods, coding and classification, training on using the CanReg5 software, as well as a workshop on population attributable fraction. The participants also had the opportunity to present their registry, exchange experiences and get ad hoc advice from the faculty. The course was attended by 20 participants from 13 countries, including registry directors, epidemiologists and cancer registrars. The course was well received and highly evaluated.